The invention relates in general to mortar munitions and in particular to breech loaded mortar munitions.
In the past, mortars have been muzzle loaded. With muzzle loaded mortars, the position of the mortar bomb in the mortar tube is not an issue. In a breech loaded mortar, a mechanical auto loader pushes the mortar bombs into the mortar tube through the open breech end. In general, it is desirable that the auto loader push the mortar bomb a bit further down the tube than the final firing position of the bomb. This allows the breech to be closed without fear of striking the bomb. After closing the breech, the mortar bomb must be moved rearward in the tube to its correct firing position. Thus, a device is needed to move the bombs rearward from their loaded position to their firing position.
Another problem occurs when the mortar tube is in an elevated position (i.e., not horizontal). At high elevations, the mortar bomb may fall out of the breech during retraction of the auto loader. Then, the breech block will strike the bomb when the breech is closed. U.S. Pat. No. 7,040,211 issued on May 9, 2006 discloses a mortar bomb retention apparatus and is incorporated by reference herein. That apparatus can prevent the mortar bomb from falling out of the breech when the mortar tube is in an elevated position. However, that apparatus is not able to retract a mortar bomb that was positioned or has moved too far down the tube, when the mortar tube is at horizontal or near horizontal elevation. Therefore, there is a need for an apparatus to work in unison with the mortar bomb retention apparatus to properly position the mortar bomb in the tube.